![](https://nolaoig.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/NOLA_CrossWALK-1-640x360.jpg)
According to the Federal Highway Administration, pedestrian crossing signals increase pedestrian safety. Yet 87 percent of signalized intersections in New Orleans did not have pedestrian crossing signals. A longstanding informal practice at the Department of Public Works (DPW) restricted the use of pedestrian signals, and decisions about when and where to install walk signals were based on a “gut call.”